Penguins-Wings In-Game Blog

0:00: Bring on the regular season! Pittsburgh defeats the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, at Joe Louis Arena, to conclude the 2010 exhibition season. The Penguins will be back in action on Thursday night, Oct. 7, when they officially open CONSOL Energy Center by hosting the rival Philadelphia Flyers at 7 p.m.

2:26: Neither team has been able to generate many scoring chances over the last couple of minutes as at this point of the exhibition season, both teams are just hoping to get through the final seconds injury free.

7:46: A rare power-play chance for the Penguins as Holmstrom picks up an interference call.

Evgeni Malkin has been the star tonight, picking up a goal and three assists against the Wings.
8:44:Tyler Kennedy has played pretty well tonight, constantly creating scoring chances for himself. In fact, the only downfall has been that he thus far has been unable to capitalize on all of his hard work.

9:39: Dupuis steps back onto the ice and Pittsburgh is a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill here tonight.

10:04: Zetterberg just wrang a shot off the post to the right of Fleury as the pesty Holmstrom's was in the crease providing traffic like he has done for what seems like the past zillion years.

11:39: It's yet another Detroit power play as Pascal Dupuis is sent off for tripping.

15:20: Letang went right back into the box, taking a tripping penalty on a rush into the Penguins zone.

17:17: Malkin continues his assault on the Red Wings. He just stole the puck off Jonathan Ericsson and beat Osgood in a fashion eerily similar to the opening goal Maxime Talbot scored in Game 7 at this very same rink two seasons ago. Penguins 5, Red Wings 1.

19:28: Kris Letang is sent off to the penalty box for clearing the puck into the stands.
20:00: And the final period of the exhibition season is under way!

THIRD PERIOD

SECOND PERIOD NOTES:- I made a mistake reading the board in Detroit, shots are actually 17-16 in favor of Pittsburgh.
- Alex Goligoski and Evgeni Malkin are both plus-3.
- Pittsburgh has blocked 12 shots through 40 minutes compared to three for Detroit.

0:00: We are down to the final period of the 2010 exhibition season. The Penguins will enter that frame with a commanding 4-1 lead over the Red Wings. Detroit still maintains a slight 17-16 shots advantage.
3:05: Eric Godard is playing very well for the Penguins tonight. He has made several nice plays, and just got robbed by Osgood from picking up what would have been a well-deserved goal off a Letestu feed.

5:41: That power play didn't last long for the Wings as Tomas Holmstrom picked up a slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while Letang got two minutes for slashing. Add a 10-minute misconduct onto Holmstrom's list of sins as well.
6:16: A bunch of penalties assessed as Chris Kunitz received two minutes for tripping and a four-minute roughing penalty, while Johan Franzen received cross-checking and roughing penalties, putting Detroit on the man-advantage.

7:02: Evgeni Malkin has picked up three assists on the afternoon, and that doesn't even begin to tell the story of how well the Russian superstar has performed. He is lugging the puck with authority and has been a beast down low fending off defenders. I'll say it again, mark down No. 71 for a huge season.

11:50: "Students, are you a member of the American Eagle Student Rush club? Join today to be entered to win 2 tickets to the Penguins Home Opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 7th! Click here for more details"

15:25: I said during the first intermission that Goligoski has had a great prseason, and he proves me right by scoring just minutes into the second period. Taking a pass at the left point from Michalek, Goligoski wound up and unleashed a howitzer past Osgood. Malkin picked up the second assist, but major kudos should go to Tangradi, who was about an inch away from Osgood providing a screen. Penguins 4, Red Wings 1.
17:37: Kennedy found himself behind the defense on a breakaway. He faked a slap shot to get Osgood out of position, but then for the second time tonight he rang a shot off the post.

20:00: The Penguins open up the second period with the red-hot Tangradi-Comrie-Malkin unit.

SECOND PERIOD

FIRST PERIOD NOTES:- Pittsburgh scored on each of its first two shots and went 3-for-7 (43 percent) from the field overall.
- Not only did Comrie excel with two goals, he was also solid on faceoffs, going 4-2.
- Alex Goligoski, who has played very well at both ends of the rink in the preseason, led Pittsburgh in ice time with 9:03 minutes.

0:00: A good start for the Penguins as they lead the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1, after two periods. Mike Comrie tallied twice and Chris Kunitz had the other goal. Detroit had the better of the shots, 10-7.
0:15: I think Mike Comrie is going to do quite well here in Pittsburgh. He just picked up his second goal of the game and team-leading fourth of the preseason as he scored on the rebound of an Alex Goligoski shot to net the power-play goal. Penguins 3, Red Wings 1.

1:07: Pittsburgh gets their first crack at the man-advantage as Detroit is whistled for having too many men on the ice. Jiri Hudler is serving the penalty.

3:12: The Penguins almost picked up another tally as Kennedy ripped a shot off the post to the right of Osgood on a two-on-one with Eric Godard.

7:42: Fleury got caught with the puck behind his own net as the Red Wings were applying pressure, and during his efforts to keep them from stealing the puck, he picked up a holding penalty. Tyler Kennedy will serve the minor.

9:36: Those live end boards come into play again for the Red Wings. Henrik Zetterberg's blast from the slot missed the net wide, but the rubber kicked quickly off the boards to the stick of Pavel Datsyuk, who threw a shot into the open cage. Penguins 2, Red Wings 1.

12:20: What a great goal by the Penguins to go up 2-0. Simon Despres led the puck out of the Pittsburgh zone and sent a pass ahead to Malkin in the neutral zone. Malkin chipped a pass ahead to a streaking Mark Letestu, who skated down the near side and forced Osgood to overplay him. At the last second he tossed a pass to a streaking Chris Kunitz, who one-timed a shot into the cage. Penguins 2, Red Wings 0.

Chris Osgood and Marc-Andre Fleury are in goal today for the Wings and Penguins.
15:41: Cha-ching! Michalek's shot from the top of the near circle deflected off the shoulder pads of Mike Comrie in front of the net and jumped into the cage past Osgood. Malkin picked up the second helper. Penguins 1, Red Wings 0.

17:13: We are less than three minutes in, but Fleury appears on his game again. He just slid across his crease from left to right to rob Brian Rafalski. On the ensuing faceoff faceoff Fleruy denied Mike Modano's blast from the far point with a right-pad save.
18:39: Detroit goes on an early power play as Zbynek Michalek goes off for holding. The Wings threaten seconds into the man-advantage but Fleury snags Jiri Hudler's shot away.
18:56: Chris Osgood gets the start in goal tonight for Detroit opposite of Fleury.

20:00: The puck has been dropped and we are under way here at Joe Louis Arena.

FIRST PERIOD

5:05 PM: Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma addressed reporters prior to Sunday's game. Here are some of the highlights:
On Asham being out:
We only had three other options, so (Arron) Asham will not be in the lineup. (Evgeni) Malkin and (Mike) Comrie will be in the lineup. (Dustin) Jeffrey will not be.
On using the younger guys to open the season if injuries exist:
I think this camp has been very good. We have talked about some of the guys who have needed to step up and take advantage of the opportunity. I think they have done that. I think in a situation like Chicago, players (on the bubble) were playing more minutes than they would be getting in pretty much every scenario in the regular season. Sometimes that’s a bit difficult to maintain that level. In terms of Eric Tangradi, Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Letestu being able to play a role on our team in certain circumstances, they have shown that they can play. Some of them have played in the NHL before and this is another step above that. I am comfortable saying that in circumstances they are probably going to play and play significant games for us at some point during the year.
On where things stand with the last defense spot:
Simon (Despres) is going to play tonight. He’s playing because (the decision on him) is the toughest decision – keeping him versus sending him back down to junior. Is he going to possibly stay the nine games? That is why he is playing the game tonight. We are giving him another opportunity. Ben Lovejoy is playing his third game. The other guys – Deryk Engelland and Andrew Hutchinson – have played their three games and have shown what they can do. Engelland was very good last game and Hutchinson was good his past two games. It’s still a tough decision. There is still that Simon Despres decision to be made. That’s the toughest decision.

5:02 PM: Here is the lineup that the Penguins will use tonight against the Red Wings:

5:00 PM: The Penguins wrap up exhibition play this evening by taking on the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. No matter what happens in this contest, the Penguins have already assured themselves a winning preseason record by virtue of their 4-1 start thus far. They defeated the Red Wings, 5-1, back on Sept. 22 in the first-ever hockey game at CONSOL Energy Center.